By SYLVIE CORBET and JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — French actor Gérard Depardieu acknowledged Tuesday that he used crude and heated language around a woman who accuses him of sexual assault and grabbed her hips but denied assaulting her, as he testified for the first time at his landmark trial in Paris.

She told the court that he’d behaved “like a madman” who took “pleasure in frightening me.”

Day 2 of the Paris trial centered on the Oscar-nominated actor’s behavior during the filming in 2021 of “Les Volets Verts” (“The Green Shutters”), where two co-workers allege that he groped them on the set.

The 76-year-old has denied assaulting the women. But during more than an hour of testimony Tuesday in a packed Paris court, Depardieu acknowledged that he had used vulgar and sexualized language with one of the plaintiffs, a 54-year-old set dresser, and grabbed her hips during an on-set argument about the artistic merits of a painting.

Depardieu said he’d been in a “bad mood” because the set was hot, which was hard for him because he is overweight.

“I understand perfectly if she’s a bit upset,” he said in his gruff, deep voice so familiar to cinemagoers. “I don’t have to talk like that, get angry like that, voilà.”

But he insisted that he isn’t a sexual predator. “I’m not touching the butts of women,” Depardieu said.

The actor faces up to five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros ($81,000) if convicted. The verdict isn’t expected immediately after the trial.

Plaintiff details alleged assault

The set dresser testified after Depardieu. She described the alleged assault in detail, saying the actor pincered her between his legs as she squeezed past him in a narrow corridor.

She said he grabbed her hips then started “palpating” her behind and “in front, around.” She ran her hands near her buttocks, hips and pubic area to show what she allegedly experienced. She said he then reached for and grabbed her chest.

“That’s when I had a reflex of ‘My God.’ I tried to free myself, I tried to take his hands away, I couldn’t do it,” she testified. “He terrified me, he laughed, he looked like a madman.”

“It was very brief, there was no shouting,” she said, adding that she’d been too “petrified” to speak and that he was too strong for her to break free. She said someone came and removed Depardieu’s hands from her.

“I saw in his eyes a pleasure in frightening me, that’s what I felt, it’s savagery,” she said. “He terrified me, and that amused him.”

She said Depardieu’s calm and cooperative attitude in court bore no resemblance to his behavior at work.

“Here, he’s exemplary, he doesn’t move, he’s quiet, he doesn’t make any noise,” she said. “He’s not like that on the film set: He gesticulates, he grunts, he makes remarks to women.”

On the movie set, “he started saying sexual things, talking about his sexual capabilities,” she said.

The second plaintiff, a 34-year-old who worked as an assistant on the film, is yet to testify.

Depardieu acknowledges boorish behavior

Because of Depardieu’s fame and impact on the French movie industry, his trial is seen as an important test of French willingness to confront sexual violence and hold influential men accountable.

His long and storied career — he told that court that he’s made more than 250 movies — has turned him into a giant of the French movie industry. French President Emmanuel Macron has included himself among Depardieu’s many admirers, calling him a “great actor” who “makes France proud.” That was in 2023, when the star was already facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.

In his testimony, Depardieu said he’d noticed that the set dresser had been taken aback by his behavior and language. He acknowledged that he sometimes has a potty mouth and that his behavior can be boorish.

“I’ve always been told I have a Russian nature, I don’t know if it’s because of the drinking or the vulgarity,” he said. “I have said in black and white that I am a disgusting slob.”

But he said he “never, ever” would have pincered a woman between his legs against her will.

“I’m not like that,” he said.